Rodin
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To put Rodins work into context we must first understand what was happening in the art world at that time. It was the era of Impressionism. Painters such as Cezanne, Degas, Renoir, Pisarro and Monet had created a romantic naturalism where forms 'dissolved into a flicker of diffused light'. This had produced one of the most attractive palettes in the history of painting but form, solid sculptural form was at a discount.
Rodin is without doubt the greatest sculptor of the nineteenth century and quite possibly the greatest that has lived since Michelangelo, yet from the very outset his work met with public indignation. This seems surprising as for long periods of the twentieth century Rodins work was considered old-fashioned; yet sections of the public at the time considered his work depraving and scandalous.
One piece, among many, to cause such outrage is 'The Walking Man', an 'acephalous giant', who stood seven feet tall and with a head would have measured more than eight feet. This work has been referred to as the very pivot of Rodins aesthetic. The omission of the mans upper extremities has played a 'decisive role in the evolution of sculpture'. Yet, when first exhibited, Jean Salz remarked "the mutilation of the Walking Man has given rise to the criticism that Rodin was incapable of finishing work"...